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CALGARY — Canadians are expected to become their own bosses at an accelerated pace in the coming decade, with more than half a million entrepreneurs in the process of establishing their own business this year, finds a new report from CIBC released Tuesday.

British Columbia is the hub for startups with a nation-leading 3.7 per cent of the working population being part of a startup.

“Alberta is second, largely due to the positive spinoffs from the energy sector and the business service sector,” said the report.

Alberta’s share of the working population being part of a startup is 3.1 per cent followed by Saskatchewan at 2.9 per cent.

“Irreversible structural forces suggest that the next decade might see the strongest startup activity in the Canadian economy on record,” said Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist at CIBC.

“The gradual shift to a strong culture of individualism and self-betterment; the role of technology in driving the transition from boardrooms to basements; the more global and inter-connected markets that require greater specialization, flexibility and speed; as well as small business friendly demographic trends are among those forces that are likely to support a net creation of 150,000 new businesses in Canada in the coming 10 years.”

The report also found that: being self-employed is a choice with only 20 per cent of new owners doing so because they couldn’t find a job; the 50 and over age group is the fastest growing segment of new business owners accounting for nearly 30 per cent of startups; the self-employed are more educated – a third have a university degree; 70 per cent of new businesses are started by men but women tend to be more successful; educational services (up almost 65 per cent since 2007) and health care are (up almost 20 per cent) are growing fastest.

Tal said the recent improvement in startup activity has occurred despite a relatively healthy labour market indicating that a significant number of new entrepreneurs chose self-employment as a career rather than being forced to open a business due to a lack of other employment opportunities.

“We estimate that only 20 per cent of those who started their own business in the past two years can be considered forced self-employed,” said Tal. “This is notably a lower proportion than observed among those who started their business during the jobless recovery of the mid-1990s and in the early 2000s. With more business owners starting operations by choice, their likelihood of success may increase.”

By far the fastest growing segment of the startup market is the 50 and over age group. This group now accounts for close to 30 per cent of the total startups, more than double the rate seen in the 1990s, said the report.

“The affordability and availability of technology enables older Canadians to provide services from home. They are also able to use their well-developed skills and take advantage of their wide business networks and connections more effectively,” said Tal.

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